


Swimming Lesson

by Sinelaborenihil



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24945337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinelaborenihil/pseuds/Sinelaborenihil
Summary: This is in response to a Reddit Prompt: "The LI of your OC gives your OC swimming lessons" and is just a quick little moment between Indira Surana and Zevran Arainai :)
Relationships: Zevran Arainai/Female Surana
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Swimming Lesson

Indira Surana looked over at Zevran skeptically as the other elf stood waist deep in the clear pool. They were in the Brecilian Forest and enjoying a brief respite from, well, everything. Peace had been brokered between the elves and the werewolves, the elves had pledged their aid to the Gray Wardens, and for one shining moment, everything wasn’t terrible.  


Naturally, Zevran had chosen that moment to remind her that he had promised to teach her to swim. Despite the fact that the Circle Tower was on Lake Calenhad, Indira had never had a chance to learn to swim. Zevran felt that this was a foolish gap in her skills.  


“You just want me to undress,” she called to him, crossing her arms over her chest.  


Zevran gave her the smile that always made heat pool in her belly. “Can I not want more than one thing?” he teased back.  


Despite herself, Indira smiled. It wasn’t as though Zevran hadn’t seen her naked...every night for the past week.  


“It looks cold,” she said, stalling.  


Zevran raised an eyebrow. “It is a forest pool,” he said wryly. “I would imagine that you could heat it with your magic, if you were so inclined, but the delightful fish we had for our dinner might take issue with such a sudden change to their home.” He smiled warmly at her. “My Gray Warden, you are stalling.”  


Indira stuck her tongue out at him and took a deep breath. _You can do this,_ she thought. _You survived your Harrowing. You survived an Ogre, and abominations, and giant spiders and Creators know what else...it’s just a little water. And Zevran is there._ She nodded to herself and quickly stripped down to her breastband and smallclothes. She lifted her chin and strode boldly into the pool--where she immediately yelped.  


“Fuck that’s fucking cold!” she gasped.  


Zevran chuckled and came to her, taking her into his arms and kissing her. Despite the frigidity of the water, Indira felt her body warm all the way through at his touch. His hands were strong and sure as his palms smoothed up and down her back, and the gentle caress of his tongue on her lips made her moan softly and press herself more firmly against him. They were both breathing hard as they pulled back and Zevran smiled down at her.  


“Perhaps you are feeling a little warmer now, hermosa?” he said softly. “I know that I am.”  


She wrinkled her nose up at him and he chuckled and took her hand, leading her out to deeper water. She was surprised by how much she liked the feeling of the smooth stone that lined the bottom of the pool on the bottom of her feet. When they had reached water that was about chest-deep, Zevran stopped. “We are going to start with floating,” Zevran said, putting his arms around her again. “If all else fails, you can always lie on your back, take a deep breath, and keep your face out of the water. If you trust me, when you are ready, lift your feet off and try to remain as still and flat as possible.” He nuzzled behind her ear. “I promise, I will be right here.”  


Indira grasped his shoulder and took a deep breath. It was strange to trust a man who had originally been sent to kill her. But she did trust Zevran. She saw the way he constantly kept an eye on where she was in the battlefield, regardless of her own prowess as a mage. He had thrown himself in the path of a blow meant for her more than once, and for all that he spoke of growing up in an Antivan whorehouse she knew there was something more in the way he held her when they lay together. She raised one foot and then, after a shuddering breath, another.  


She fought panic as water entered her ears, tightening her grasp on Zevran’s shoulder. She kept her eyes fixed on his, trying to lose herself in their golden depths as he smiled down at her, nodding. 

His voice was muffled, but she knew the look of the word well enough to see him say: “-hermosa.”  


She felt his warm hands on her back, encouraging her to straighten her spine and she saw him take an exaggerated deep breath, clearly indicating that she do the same. She did as he instructed, gratified to notice that her body seemed to rise higher in the water. They remained that way for a few moments before Zevran’s gentle hands pressed on her shoulders and she allowed her feet to fall back down.  


He caught her around the waist and leaned his forehead against hers. “Very well done,” he said and Indira was surprised by the huskiness in his voice. His lips curled into a smile. “Though I must admit, the sight of you is very...tempting. Still, I am a man of my word, and we must at least master floating before I drag you back to your tent and let you have your way with me.”  


Indira giggled and rubbed her nose against his. “What now?” she asked quietly.  


“Now we do it again,” he said firmly. “But this time, I am not going to hold you up. My hands will, as ever, be prepared to catch you. But I would like you to try on your own.”  


Indira swallowed hard but nodded and saw what she thought was a flare of pride in her lover’s eyes. He leaned in and kissed her, taking her by surprise by scooping her up into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave herself over to the kiss, loving the way she could feel him smiling.  


His expression was so sweet when she opened her eyes that the words “I love you” very nearly passed her lips before she caught herself. She wasn’t sure that she was ready to speak of love. She wasn’t sure that was even something he was interested in. And at any rate, there was a Blight and either of them could die at any moment. But as she let him guide her back to a floating position in the water, Indira knew that the words were true nonetheless.  


Zevran held her until she nodded, and then she felt his hands leave her back. She had hoped that swimming would come as easily to her as magic, but unfortunately, that was not the case.  


Immediately she sank like a stone, only to be caught by Zevran after only an instant. She was coughing and sputtering when her head breached the surface and she let out a string of curses in elvish.  


Zevran wiped the water from her face tenderly. “Are you all right?” he asked.  


She narrowed her eyes, annoyed. She was not used to failing at things. “I want to try again,” she said. “What did I do wrong?”  


“You let your lovely rear end drop rather than keeping your back straight,” Zevran said. “Deep breath, hermosa, back as straight as the branch lodged up our dear Sten’s behind, arms out to the sides.”  


Indira nodded and let Zevran take her into his arms once more. This time, when he let her go, she focused on the way her body tried to sink into the water. She took a deep breath and stretched out her arms, picturing her breath moving along her spine and through her limbs and holding her up. It took much longer for her to start to sink this time, and Zevran caught her immediately.  


“You are, as ever, a fast learner, my Gray Warden,” Zevran said with heat that made her blush. “Again?”  


“Again,” Indira said.  


It continued like that for the better part of the next two hours until finally Zevran called a halt. “You are shivering, Amora,” he said, cupping her cheek. “Let us go back to your tent and warm up.”  


Indira grinned up at him, the warmth of pride suffusing her body despite the chill of the water. “And how might we do that?” she asked, trailing her fingertips through his damp, blond hair.  


His answering smile was rakish as he picked her up and carried her out of the forest pool. “I am a creative man, hermosa,” he said. “I am sure I will think of something.”


End file.
